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Genres

Why No Gay Sex in Game of Thrones Books?

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I understand that most people watch the HBO series “Game Of Thrones” for its copious and brutal acts of violence and for its regular bouts of carnal exercise. It’s noticeable, however, that this carnal exercise has explicitly been of the heterosexual variety in George R.R. Martin’s books, though that’s not the case on the TV show adapted from the novels. Why might this be?… “Frankly, it is the way I prefer to write fiction because that is the way all of us experience life. You’re seeing me from your viewpoint, you’re not seeing what someone over here is seeing,” Martin … Read more

Religious Iconography in Fantasy and Paranormal Stories

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Since today is Sunday, it seems fitting to tackle a new topic here at QSF – the use of religious iconography, including angels, demons and devils, in Fantasy and Paranormal stories. This practice has a long and studied tradition, going back to some of the very roots of Fantasy (see CS Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles) and Paranormal (often drawing on themes of heaven and hell). But it seems to me that there’s a particular opportunity here for storytelling from an LGBt point of view – our community was long persecuted by the Church, and even now, most opposition to … Read more

John Barrowman Interviewed By Windy City Times

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John Barrowman is that rare person: the multitalented heartthrob. Barrowman – who was born in Scotland and raised in Joliet, Illinois – may be best known for playing omnisexual Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who and its popular spinoff, Torchwood, although he’s fulfilling many a fan’s fantasy as Malcolm Merlyn on the CW series Arrow. ( This writer personally remembers him from the short-lived ’90s nighttime sudser Central Park West, or C.P.W.)… Windy City Times caught up with Barrowman last week, talking with him about his sci-fi work, Broadway, Robin Williams and Barrowman’s marriage to Scott Gill. … WCT: So … Read more

Where is All the Lesbian Sci Fi? (And Transgender and Bisexual and…)

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There’s a huge market for MM Romance these days. Dreamspinner and others have built a whole business plan around it, and I’m always astonished when I see just how many titles there are out there. To a lesser extent, this holds true for MM sci fi, romance and otherwise. The same white male POV that has long held sway in traditional sci fi seems to exist in the LGBT sci fi market. Most stories out there seem to be about men, and often white men. I’ve been wanting to see more diversity in LGBT sci fi for years, bot in … Read more

Lesbian Sci Fi Film Debuts in Durham, North Carolina

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A lesbian sci fi web series has been produced as a feature film. WUNC reports: People rarely associate gay and lesbian films with the science fiction genre. But a Durham-based production company, KVWorks, created a sci-fi lesbian web series. They adapted the two-year series into full length feature film. Frequency debuts at the 2014 North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Durham this weekend. Host Frank Stasio talks with writer and director Piper Kessler and producer Monique Velasquez about their work. It’s great to see LGBT sci fi, and lesbian sci fi in particular, getting some exposure.

Ghosts, Spooks, Hauntings, and Other Mayhem From Beyond the Grave

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Okay, it’s time for another foray into the paranormal. Today, I’m taking about an area that gets little press these days, what with all the shifters, vampires, and zombies that seem to be roaming the Earth these days. Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned ghost story? You know, your Amityville Horrors, your Paranormal Activities, your Poltergeists? The kind of story that, without ever showing the creepy antagonist, could raise the hairs on your arms? I still remember watching Poltergeist, and getting the thrill of my spine when the little girl put her hands on the TV screen, filled with static, … Read more

Writing in Your Own Tongue

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Some very successful fantasy novels have flirted with inventing their own language or languages – among them the Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien was a professional philologist and Old English specialist) and George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. But many writers just use a few choice words in their new lingua, to give their stories a bit of High Fantasy flavor. To be sure, a new language isn’t an absolute necessity in Fantasy – it really depends on the story you are telling. But it can add a bit of flair and flavor to your work, setting it apart … Read more

What Will The Internet Become?

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When I was a kid, I read lots of Golden Age sci-fi – Bradbury, Clark, Asimov – and although there were computers and sometimes even networks, nothing there approached what we have today. These fine men of sci fi’s past couldn’t have imagined the vast, interconnected network we have today, even though they did a pretty good jib with many aspects of the future. As I write near-future sci-fi, I wonder if I am similarly limited in my ability to see into the future of information tech. I find myself writing about people using keyboards and tablets and computer screens, … Read more

New MM Sci-Fi/Suspense Release 8/18/14: Bliss by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau

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They’re always happy. Rory James has worked hard all his life to become a citizen of the idyllic city-state of Beulah. Like every other kid born in the neighboring country of Tophet, he’s heard the stories: No crime or pollution. A house and food for everyone. It’s perfect, and Rory is finally getting a piece of it. So is Tate Patterson. He’s from Tophet, too, but he’s not a legal immigrant; he snuck in as a thief. A city without crime seems like an easy score, until he crashes into Rory during a getaway and is arrested for assaulting a … Read more

Suparanorror

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OK, it’s paranormal day at the QSF blog. Today, I’m thinking about supernatural, paranormal, and horror. They have a lot of overlap, but are not exactly the same thing. For instance, Twilight is probably paranormal, with its shifter themes, and maybe a little supernatural. The Amityville Horror was clearly horror, with a little supernatural, but was it paranormal? Maybe? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – horror only. What I’m wondering this morning is – where do you draw the line between supernatural, paranormal, and horror? And what are some examples you’ve read and enjoyed in each subset of the Suparanorror genre?